You might consider it strange to think that Keswick, set in the glorious countryside of the northern half of the Lake District National Park and a favourite location for millions of visitors a year, should be in any need of help and regeneration. Yet the apparent prosperity and well being of this community masks serious concern on issues such as the shortage of affordable housing for local people, a narrow range of employment and low wage levels, inadequate public transport and car parking, few facilities for young families and youth and many others.
That said, there have been some notable achievements in Keswick and area over recent years. The Theatre by the Lake has become an enormous year round asset for the whole region. Keswick School (1000+pupils) has Beacon status and draws in pupils from a wide area. To the relief of visitors, the centre of town is now a paved pedestrian priority zone. The strong junior sections of the sports clubs must be the envy of many larger towns. Significantly, the independent Keswick Tourism Association has over 450 business members.
It is this philosophy of self help which encouraged local people to bid for a place on the Market Towns Initiative, a government scheme to promote community involvement in the regeneration of rural areas. The process has been through a series of public workshops in Keswick and the neighbouring parishes of Borrowdale, St Johns in the Vale, Underskiddaw and Above Derwent. The concerns raised at these consultations, linked into a formal Healthcheck of the Partnership area, led to the preparation of an Action Plan, completed in 2002.
The Keswick Area Partnership was registered as a Limited Company in 2003 with the Board of Directors made up of local and unpaid volunteers. Members are elected onto a Steering group with additional observer representation from relevant statutory bodies and organisations. The programme of development is led by a full time, professional Project Manager.
By the end of 2005 the Partnership had received approval from the North West Development Agency for its current list of projects which are detailed in “The Vision into Delivery" statement, outlined below.
Matched funding, up to a total of £1 million, has been agreed by the NWDA for the implementation of these projects, with Allerdale Borough Council acting as the Accountable Body in respect of public funding.
The Partnership is also closely involved in other current projects in Keswick which are being separately researched and managed:
The current programme runs until 2008, but with the intention of extending these and other projects beyond that date. For further information call 017687 74144 or email enquiry@keswickap.co.uk
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